Decisions
by Anna-Mae1242
Summary: It wasn't that Neo couldn't speak, it was that she chose not to. That was the first big decision she ever made, and everything changed when she made the second. Neo ran away from home, wanting something different, but by no means was she expecting to meet Roman Torchwick, by absolutely no means had she expected to join his gang. But after all, fate is a funny thing.
1. Chapter 1 - Goodbye

Up until I was about thirteen, I don't think I ever really made any decisions for myself. I did what my dad told me, no questions asked. Everything in my life changed though, the day I made the two most impactful decisions of my life.

When I was nine of so I began noticing how whatever I said was ignored or barley taken into consideration. I began to notice that my words didn't matter. About four years later, I simply stopped talking, no one noticed no one cared. Stopping talking was the first big decision I ever made, and the second, well that all started one day on my way home from school.

"Freak!"

"Weirdo!"

"Loner!"

"Stupid!"

"Crazy!"

The voices followed me as I walked home from school that day, they always did, always had and always would. My house was only about a mile from the school, after what felt like an eternity, I made it to my home. It was small and secluded. My father hadn't wanted to live in the village.

It was loud inside, just as it always was. My father and some of his friends were sitting on the couch in the living room screaming about some sport or something. I tried to be extremely quiet as I closed the door as not for anyone to notice me, but of course they did.

"Hey kid," my father called over, "What you doing back."

I stood still, not a word left my mouth. He glared at me, "You not going to say anything?"

I nodded. "Of course," he muttered, "uh go to your room or something, don't bother us."

I nodded once again; I hadn't been planning on anything different. I made my way upstairs and plopped myself onto my bed. Out house may have been old and small but it did well blocking out sound. It was absolutely silent in my room.

The silence was when the voices came back, they always did.

"Worthless!"

"Useless!"

I don't know why it had taken me so long, but in that moment, I realized something. Sitting here in my bed feeling sorry for myself was doing nothing for me. I was doing nothing whatsoever with my life and if I stayed like this nothing was ever going to change. And so, I decided I was going to make it change.

I knew I had to leave if anything was going to be different and there was nothing left for me here. I slowly got up from my bed, not really sure what I was doing, and emptied my backpack and shoved the entirety of everything I owned in it. It honestly wasn't much, a few pairs of clothes, a couple books and the decretive umbrella my mother had given me years ago. She was all I had now, I had nothing.

I swung the backpack over my shoulder and began to walk out, I was standing outside of the door when I decided that there was one last thing I needed to do. After pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil I wrote one last note before leaving, _I'm sorry_ It read _I can't do this anymore goodbye._

And that was it, I left my room and walked out of the back door of my house. I didn't use the front so that my dad wouldn't see me, and I left.

Before this I'd always though that it would be hard to run away, to leave it all behind, but it wasn't. I made the decision and only moments later I was gone. Nobody questioned me walking through the town alone, and soon enough I was gone. None of them would ever see me again.

I don't know how long I walked; I don't care how long I walked. I didn't know where I was going; I didn't care where I was going. I just kept going, going somewhere, somewhere I could be me. Somewhere I could be Neo.

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**A/N:**

**This is short, I know but its basically a little snippet to get people interested! Hope you guys like it drop a review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2 - A New Start

**Chapter 2**

**A New Start**

For the next few days of walking I was constantly followed by the feeling of someone watching me, but I was never able to find anyone. I passed through several villages and nobody payed me much mind. I was still astounded how easy it had been to run away.

The whole time I would constantly be looking behind me. I always expecting someone to have come to take me home, but no one was ever there. In a way I guess I almost wanted to see someone there. I wanted someone to care enough to come after me, but no one ever came.

If I really thought about it, even if someone cared enough to come after me, with the distance I had walked and the path I had taken, it was highly unlikely they would ever find me. That didn't stop me from wishing.

For a while after leaving I recognized all the towns from trips, I'd gone one, but now, I had no idea where I was. I honestly didn't care anymore at that was beginning to scare me. When I was tried, I slept, when I was hungry, I stole something and ate, I simply didn't care.

The village I was currently walking in was a small one, I'd never seen it before. I didn't recognize any of the people either, but one person stuck out when I looked in the crowds of people in the streets. It was a boy, he looked a few years older than me with bright orange hair, always wearing a hat.

I'd stuck around in the village longer than most, something drew me to it. I kept seeing that boy, everywhere I looked he was right there. I don't why I felt so drawn to him, but I did. I watched him for a while but never our right spoke to him.

In fact, I never had a single interaction with him until today. I'd walking down the main street, I planned to leave the village that day. No sense in sticking around any longer. I'd left at night, there was no particular reason I'd chose to leave at night. My sleep schedule was just messed up I didn't sleep at a particular time in general, I just slept when I was tired. I still can't decide if leaving at that time had been a good or bad idea.

I was just moments away from leaving the village for good when a few of the kids from the village cornered me. I recognized these kids around from the few days I'd spent here but I didn't know much about any of them.

It wasn't the first time something like this had happened to me but that certainly didn't make it any better. One of the kids, a green haired boy walked up to me and let out an awful sounding giggle, "Hey guys look at this freak!"

One of the kids laughed in response, "Ya looked at her hair, and eyes! That's so weird! I've never seen anything like it!"

"Me neither!"

"I haven't seen her around before."

"Defiantly someone I would have noticed!"

"Such a freak."

I thought leaving my town would make the voices leave, but I was wrong. No matter where I went the voices followed me, they just found different hosts.

The green-haired boy, flicked my forehead and laughed when I flinched, "Hey kid, where you from?"

Of course, I didn't respond. "You deaf or something," the kid asked harshly, "I asked you a question, and I expect an answer. Where you from?"

It was moments like these that I sometimes doubted my decision to stop talking, was it really worth it? Though I constantly debated if my choice had been a good one, I never changed it. I'd been silent for a long time now and talking... well it felt wrong. So, I didn't say anything.

The kids continued to throw rude comments at me, occasionally pushing me or something but, I didn't move. They would get bored eventually.

These kids were more persistent than the others before them and I didn't have any idea how long they were going to go at it. So, I just waited, waited for it all to end.

I don't know how long I waited for them to stop and I don't actually know if I they would have because I was lucky this time I heard a voice call out, "I don't think that's very nice of you kids," he said swinging a cane around his arm, "Scram."

One of the kids muttered a quick crap before they all ran off leaving me and the person who had rescued me alone. It was then that I noticed who it was, it was that boy, the one I had been watching. I glanced at the cane he was holding; he didn't look like he needed a cane or anything. I thought it would be some fasion statement or something.

The kid looked at me and smiled, it wasn't really a nice-looking smile though I'd say it was slyer or something. "So," he asked, "What's your name kid? I haven't seen you around."

I of course, didn't say a word.

"You going to answer me?"

I shook my head.

The boy muttered a quick, "We could use her," and abruptly turned around, "By the way," he called out while walking away, "My names Roman."

That was the first time I ever spoke to Roman, after that my life became very different.

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**A/N: PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I have finals and wasn't able to update for a while, and even though I did it's kinda short... I'M SORRY! I'm not to happy about how this one turned out but things are going to be fun after this! I hope you guys stick around! Thanks for reading and drop a review I really appreciate it a lot!**

**P.S. If you spot any mistakes please let me know so I can fix them! BYE!**

** -Anna-Mae1242**


	3. Chapter 3 - Confrontation

**Chapter 3**

**Confrontation**

After that whole ordeal I knew that I should leave, it was the best option and any sensible person would have, but something kept me. I stuck around in the village for a while longer, waiting to catch another glimpse of Roman, but I never saw him, not once.

Eventually I decided to leave, there was only so long that I could convince myself of reasons to stay. Leaving wasn't all that hard, I'd only even known the place existed for just over a week, so I went back to aimlessly following the road, letting it take me wherever it may.

I'd stolen quite an amount of food from the village and stuffed it in my backpack, along with a sleeping bag. I didn't think that I would need to stop for quite some time.

The first few days after I left were hard, I thought about Roman continuously and it kept me from thinking straight or moving forward much. I really wanted to turn back, but as days, then weeks, and eventually months passed with minimal stops, I began to think about him less and less. Our encounter was only short, and I didn't see a reason to hold on anymore.

I'd decided I would just forget him but fates a funny thing. It never lets you get what you want, sometimes it's just all together cruel, and I'm pretty sure fate likes to laugh in my face.

I learned that one day when I stopped to restock food. Over the past few months I'd become a skilled thief, most of the time I would leave the village even before anyone noticed anything was gone. There were upsides to being a small, quiet little girl after all.

I'd set my eyes on a small meat store, they were sure to have some sort of jerky. Jerky lasted a long time and I found I didn't really have another way to cook so that was one of the foods I tended to steal a lot of.

I watched the store for a while and waited until the owner went out, then the store was left unattended so I made my move. The owner was a big man and it wouldn't end well for me if I got caught stealing from him.

I quietly swept into the store, nobody was there, so far so good. After that I silently grabbed a large amount of packaged jerky and shoved it into my bag, then I quietly left the store. It was easy enough, nobody caught me and I had some food.

I never stayed in the part of the village I had stolen from for long, so I moved further in to steal more food, just some jerky could last me a while, but not long enough. I didn't want to stop for a while. I was currently in a sparsely populated area in Mistral and I'd decided to make my way to Vale. At the time I had no idea how stupid it was for a kid like me to think that they could make it all the way to Vale on their own.

The next place I decided to steal from was a bread shop, bread and meat kept for much longer that fruits and vegetables, unless they were dried, and I didn't like dried fruit, so I was good with bread and meat.

Stealing from the second store was just as successful as the first. I waited around an hour of the store to be empty, I took the food and left. That was about as easy as it gets. I had no reason to stick around after getting all the food I needed so, I left the village, just like the others. I would probably forget this place existed soon enough.

Overall the trip was very uneventful, just like every the rest, right until the very end.

I was leaving the village, no reason to stick around and when I made it to the end of the village and was ready to continue, I heard a voice.

"You know stealing not nice right?"

I turned to see a grinning Roman with his hat pulled over his eyes leaning on a wall. I stared at him in shock and slowly nodded, clutching my bag to my chest, I didn't want him to take away my food.

Roman didn't even look at me as he started talking again, "It's a shame really, a smart kid like you running and stealing from stores just enough to survive. So much more could be done with you."

I stared at him, my mouth gaping wide. How the heck had he found me? Was he some kind of little girl stalker or something?

Laughing at the face I had made, Roman asked me a question, "You're an orphan, right?"

The question caught me off guard, I wasn't technically an orphan, I still had a dad, he probably hadn't even noticed I was gone though. I had no one who would look for me, no one who would wait for me back home, so I nodded. It was easer to just pretend that I didn't have a dad at all.

After receiving my answer Roman asked another question as he left his wall to walk over to me, "You're also a mute huh?"

Once again, I nodded, this time I was slightly more truthful.

"I know what its like to be alone on the streets," said Roman looking crouching to my level, "It sucks, but I can help you. You're a smart, quiet and small. That helps you be good at stealing. With an amount of work, you could be an outstanding robber," Roman grinned at me, "What do you say about joining my gang kid?"

I guess he wasn't going to take my food.

I'd known it was a bad idea, gangs were awful business around here, but for some reason I couldn't stop myself, I slowly nodded my head. I wanted something different, and I guess I found it.

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**A/N:**

**Sorry I've been gone for so long! Schools been crazy, but its almost over! YAY! Once summer comes around I should be able to update more often!**

**By the way, for the few that actually care, starting next week I plan to update once a week on Mondays. If I get far enough ahead I may change that to twice a week.**

**Thanks for reading! Drop a review an tell me what you thought!**

**-Anna-Mae1242**


	4. Chapter 4 - Josh

**Chapter 4**

**Josh**

After the short one-sided conversation with Roman, we left. I knew it was dumb, running off with some person I'd only just met planning to join his gang. I'd already done one thing I knew was stupid anyways, (running away) what did I have left to lose?

Roman took the lead and I followed close behind him. He seemed only a few years older, but Roman towered over me. When I was around him, I almost felt safe. Nobody was going to hurt me with a person like him around.

We'd been walking for quite some time, Roman had told me gang headquarters was only a few villages down, near the end of Mistral, but it was going to take us a while to get there.

Throughout the whole walk Roman was complaining about someone taking his car or something so we had to walk the whole time. I'd been walking for so long at this point that a few more days of walking seemed like nothing.

The walk to wherever we were going was much more pleasant than the rest of my trip. Roman had good food and knew how to start a fire, so I was never very cold for long. For my whole life I'd avoided gang members. I tried not to associate myself with them, and here I was camping with a gang member planning to join him. Thigs sure do change over time.

The trip was relatively quiet, I didn't ever talk and Roman rarely said anything, I wouldn't respond so what was the point. He only really said anything when giving me instructions.

Overall, I'd say the trip was uneventful, but my life never stays that way for long.

Roman had walked up to me one day when we were camping for the night and started talking to me, "So kid, you wanna join my gang huh?"

I nodded, if I hadn't mistaken, he'd invited me.

"I said it was my gang when I asked you to join, but I guess that's not entirely true, I co-own the group with a guy named Alex. He's tough and if you want to join your going to need to learn to fight. If you don't things aren't going to end well for you. Some day I'm going to teach you how to fight, and win, but for now I think its best to just teach you how to defend yourself. We can teach you how to fight better in the future. We haven't got the time now. You cool with that?"

I nodded and brushed myself off as I stood up, "Ok kid," said Roman, "We are going to start with the bare basics. I'm going to push you, don't fall over."

Roman only gave me a few seconds to register what he said before he pushed my shoulder roughly, I tried to hold my ground, but ended up falling over anyways.

"First order of business," said Roman, "Were going to have to work on your stance. Can't have you falling over the easily. Stand up."

I stood back up, brushing myself off once again, we were currently camping in some forest on a patch of dirt. I couldn't help but think that this area was Grimm infested.

"First off, don't hold your legs together like that, spread them slightly apart and bend you knees, just a bit," said Roman pushing my shoulder into the right position, "Now I'm going to push you over again, don't fall."

And this time I didn't, I held my ground. For the next couple hours or so were spent with Roman reaching my various things. How to protect my face, the best ways to knock someone out if you need to run away and how to dodge another's blows.

After we were done, I ached all over and was about ready to sleep. Roman had told me that my endurance would get better over time, but I didn't know how anyone could take this much without being exhausted.

For the next few days we repeated this pattern, we walked for hours, stopped and trained then slept. Roman was right, I was getting better at it and the training was getting less tiering.

For the first time in years, I almost felt comfortable. Roman was a gang master, I knew I shouldn't trust him, but for some reason I simply couldn't see him hurting me. I was beginning to like Roman and my life had a pattern, for a while I knew what to expect from life, and I liked it.

But as I've said, nothing lasts forever.

I was training with Roman one night, just like every other, when I heard a noise above us, a bit out of the ordinary, it was generally silent out in the forest, that was where we normally traveled, trying to avoid the public eye.

When I looked up a saw an air aircraft, I'd never seen what kind it was before, it relatively small and probably wasn't a super nice or expensive one.

I didn't like it, but Roman seemed to recognize it. "Hey kid," he said looking over to me, "I just found us our ride," Roman pulled out a cane, the one I'd seen him with on our first encounter and pointed it to the sky. I thought this was strange at first, but then the top flipped off and he fired something into the air.

What ever Roman had fired into the air exploded into some kind of firework looking thig that was black. Whoever was driving the aircraft must have seen it because the aircraft began to tilt forward, obviously intending to land near us.

Instead of finding a clearing to land it, whoever was driving the aircraft decided to just chop down whatever was in his way and land right next to us.

The gusts of wind whipped my hair around my face as a stared in awe at the aircraft landing by me, I was too distracted to notice that the aircraft was landing TOO close to me, Roman had to yank me out of the way so I wouldn't end up in pieces.

Soon enough the aircraft had landed and a man with messed up bright blue hair and yellow eyes jumped out of the aircraft. "Next time you need a ride," the man said glaring at Roman, "Don't call me, it was a pain to find you and I'm not too keen on doing it again."

Roman punched the other guy lightly in the arm, "You say that every time josh, you know you'll do it again."

"Only because you rank higher than me."

"Well anyways let's get going," Roman gestured for me to follow and began to walk towards to aircraft, "Let's make this trip back a quick one, Alex is going to kill me I was supposed to be back with new recruits like a week ago."

It was then that Josh seemed to notice me for the first time, he glanced at me, then at Roman, and at me again, "Uhh," he started, "Who's the kid, she looks kinda funky?"

"I said I would come back with at least one new recruit, didn't I?"

Josh looked at me skeptically, "Uh when he asked for new recruits, I don't think that's what he meant."

"Don't worry," said Roman leading walking into the back of the aircraft and taking a seat, "I've been training her for the past week or so and I think she's going to work out great."

I took a seat next to him, it was clear Josh didn't like me and the situation was feeling kind of awkward.

Josh looked at me and sighed, "I'm not sure… anyways, what's your name?"

I stared at the floor and internally laughed at myself as I realized that I'd been hanging out with Roman for about a month or so now and he didn't even know my name. Sometimes not talking got a little awkward and this was defiantly one of those times.

I didn't need to talk this time though Roman did it for me, "She's a mute," he shrugged, "I actually don't know her name."

"You've got to be kidding me," Josh exclaimed face palming, "Your bringing a mute little girl you know into our gang! Your crazy, I suggest ditching the girl, she's not going to be of much use."

In that moment I started to panic, Roman may not have been much, but he was all  
I had right now. The only thing.

Roman wrapped his arm around my shoulder and laughed, "Oh common I'm gunna keep her, now let's go. No need to keep Alex waiting any longer."

Sighing once again Josh made his way to the piolets seat, "I guess this is your choice, but Alex is going to be seriously ticked off."

"Let him," said Roman shrugging, "Now get going chicken!"

"Your seriously crazy man."

"You don't think I know?"

"Oh, I know you know," said Josh starting up the aircraft, we were finally on our way and I had no idea what the heck to think about this. I just hoped that by the end of the day I would still be alive.

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**A/N:**

**Heck ya! I'm not behind on updates! Thanks a lot for all the support!**

**My summer just started, and without tons of homework and stuff so I might actually start updating twice a week, what would you guys think of that?**

**Drop a review and tell me what you thought, if you spot any mistakes please PM me and tell me or tell me in a review then I will fix it same goes for any questions, I will happily answer anything that wont give tons of spoilers!**

** -Anna-Mae1242**

**-Anna-Mae1242**


	5. Chapter 5 - Names

**Chapter 5**

**Names**

The ride to wherever we were going wasn't that long, but it sure felt that way. Sitting in the back of a vehicle when you know the driver doesn't like you is a bit awkward. Eventually though, we made it there.

We'd stopped on the outskirts of a small village; one I'd never seen or heard of before. To me it seemed like we had landed in the middle of nowhere but when Roman and Josh hopped out of the aircraft they seemed to know where we were going, so I followed, nothing else to do.

We were making our way through the thicket of trees, seemingly walking nowhere, when Josh stopped and announced, "We've made it**! **Good Luck introducing the kid," before he pushed some leaves away to reveal a trap door, opened it, and jumped in.

After Josh disappeared into the hole Roman opened up the door and gestured for me to go in as well, he was grinning, "Welcome to headquarters kid."

My first impression when I went through the door and climbed down the ladder to HQ was, oh crap I'm going to die. Let's just say it wasn't the friendliest place I'd ever been in. The walls were decorated with weapons and wooden carvings of grimm heads. I didn't like it then, but over time the place grew on me.

Roman dropped down behind me, grabbed my arm and began walking, "Common I've got you to take you to meet Alex, let's just hope he decides to be nice today."

When I initially got down here, I'd thought the place to be small but dang was I wrong. Roman lead me through door after door and hallway after hallway. About halfway through the complex we reached are large room filled with tables, most of them were filled with teens and adults laughing as they ate and drank. In most situations this would seem like a friendly place, but when I looked closer into the crowd, I decided that it most certainly wasn't.

The majority of the people had an abundance of scars, and tattoos. They didn't look in the slightest friendly. I moved myself closer to Roman as we walked through the room. I may not have known him super well but I sure knew him better then these people. In general, I would say that the people in the room looked messy, not many of them seemed to care much for personal hygiene, Roman however was different, he always looked clean and well kept, and I never knew how he did it but Romans hair always looked perfect and his clothes were always spotless, even when we were camping out in the forest he looked like he had just left some sort of salon.

Needless to say, this was not what I was expecting when I followed Roman here. The rest of the gang was nothing like Roman. The walk through the hallways felt like forever but eventually we reached the end of a hallway and were standing in front of a large wooden door with a large carving of a grimm head on it with a ring in its mouth. I assumed this was some kind of knocker.

Roman used the ring to knock on the door three times, the banging sound echoed through the hallways for several seconds before the door was swung open. My eyes widened when I saw the room, it was huge. A red carpet adorned the floor leading up to a big empty chair. The walls (just like the rest of the building) were decorated with various statues of grimm. At the time I didn't like the place, it made me uncomfortable. I almost wanted to go home, but what I considered home, I honestly didn't know anymore.

Standing right in the middle of the room with arms folded was a tall and rather muscular man, he was much bigger than Roman. When we first walked into the room, he looked angry at something and when he saw Roman, he looked ten times angrier.

The man, who I assumed was Alex glared at Roman and spoke, "Do you," he said slowly, "Have any idea how late you are."

Roman shrugged, "Must have lost track of time, how late am I, Alex?"

"Roman," Alex growled, "Two months, you were supposed to be back two months ago. Where the heck were you?"

"You asked me to find new recruits and I was having a bit of trouble finding anybody, but you're in luck, I found one!"

Roman seemed happy, Alex... Not so much. Alex looked around the room a couple of times, totally overlooking me then looked back to Roman, "You said you got someone, where are they?"

Roman gestured to me, "Right here."

Alex didn't look surprised in the slightest about the fact that Roman ad brought a litter girl, he just shook his head, "A little girl really," Alex walked up to me and knelt down, "So kid what's your name?"

Once again Roman had to step into to fill the silent room, "Forgot to mention this but, she's a mute and... I still need to get around to figuring out her name," Roman turned to me, "Remind me to do that kid."

Alex did an exaggerated face palm and sighed, "Oh my gosh Roman! You've got to be kidding me! First you bring a little girl here and then you tell me she's a mute. Just how is she going to be a use to us. This is not an organization for little kids."

For the first time since I first met Roman, I was truly afraid, if Alex and Roman decided that they didn't want me here then I would be thrown back on to the streets. I would be back to square one with absolutely nothing, nothing at all.

Being the kind of person that Roman was though he wasn't even phased a bit. Roman gave confidant smile and began speaking, "Alex, have you ever thought of all the benefits a kid like her could bring to our organization. First, she's small, and quiet. I've seen firsthand how good she is at sneaking into places unnoticed. Also, the fact that she's young is useful considering no one would suspect her. She also happens to be a fast learner and rather strong for her size. Have I ever let you down before when I bring people back."

Alex considered for a moment, opened his mouth to speak then shut it again. After another brief moment of thinking Alex opened his mouth again and actually talked, "I'll give her a chance. Only one. If she doesn't pass whatever test I decide to give her then she can't join but if she does then she is free to join and you can do what you wish with her. No go your bugging the heck out of me."

Roman flashed Alex a quick smile and we left. Once we were out of the room, he scratched his neck and began whispering to me, "I know I may have said we co owned the gang, you might have noticed Alex is a bit more of the boss. Whatever he has planned to test you I'll make sure you'll pass just fine. Let's go."

After that we retraced our steps right back into the room full of tables. Roman glanced around and called out to a purple haired girl behind some sort of a bar, "Hey, Marissa pass me some paper and a pencil will ya."

The girl rolled her eyes, "Sure Roman," she knelt down for a bit and when she stood back up she chucked a pad of paper and a pen to Roman, "Nice kid you got with ya."

Roman didn't respond and lead me down another hallway, one I hadn't seen before. This place was absolutely humongous for gang base underground. I have to admit it was pretty awesome.

About halfway through the hall Roman stopped at a door with a big number 2 above it and lead me in. Behind the door was another small hallway with three doors in it and a small living room sort of thing at the end.

Roman gestured to one of the doors, "This ones my room, the one next to it is the bathroom and the one on the other side is where your going to be staying. I had a roommate who lived there at one point, but he's long gone so it's yours until you're an official member and get assigned your own room."

I nodded and Roman pulled the door to my room open and gestured for me to go in. It wasn't a large room; it had a bed a desk and a closet, but I loved it. After a walked in Roman took a seat on the bed and patted the spot next to him.

We sat for a moment before Roman asked me a question, "So, can you read and/or write?"

I nodded.

"Both?"

I nodded again. Roman handed me the pad of paper and pen, "It's probably about time that I got your name."

I took the paper and pen and debated for a moment. Neapolitan was such a long name and I'd never really liked it, so I shortened it into the name that nobody had called me in years.

Slowly but surly in my not-so-great-handwriting I wrote three letters, _N-E-O._

When I was done I tore the paper out and handed it to Roman, he smiled, "Huh, Neo, I like it."

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**A/N:**

**I know I said that I am not giving up on this story (and its still true) but I am loosing both inspiration and motivation for this story. I got this chapter out but it was hard.**

**For authors support from readers means the world and without much of it, it just makes continuing hard. I'm not giving up on you guys so don't give up on me. I will do my best to keep up with this story I'm hoping my motivation will come back.**

**Sorry for the kinda serious authors note. Please Favorite/Follow/Review it means the world. (only if you at least semi like the story of course)**

**Love you all,**

** Anna-Mae1242**


	6. Chapter 6 - Waiting

**Chapter 6**

**Waiting**

To say the next few days were stressful would be an understatement. Alex had said that he would give me some sort of test but he hadn't actually come up with what it would be yet, so, I was forced to wait until he figured it out. Roman told me that whatever Alex came up with he was sure I would pass; I didn't believe him in the slightest.

The time waiting was spent training with Roman and talking. We had many written conversations on that pad of paper but as of now he didn't actually know much about me and I didn't know much about him.

Not knowing much about Roman never bothered me though. I almost felt it was better not knowing, I was simply able to think of him how I wanted.

The training Roman put me though was hard but I was getting a little better every day. I'd only been trained in hand to hand combat so far but Roman told me that eventually I would get some kind of a weapon specifically. We would need to wait until I was officially accepted into the gang first though, non-members were never issued weapons to use for more than sparing in the base.

Even though the waiting was stressful the days were actually pretty anticlimactic. The past month or so had been crazy stressful, I was always on the run that actually having somewhere to stay for more than a day was actually pretty strange. This was the first time in a long time that I had actually got any silence. Roman was off on some mission or something (probably stealing something) and I was left alone, sitting in my room.

That was when the voices returned, I knew they were only in my head but that didn't make me hate them any less. Normally the voices would just insult me, make me hate myself, but today they were different.

"_You know if you don't pass their going to send you away, who am I kidding their going to send you off either way. Why would anyone want a burden like you to take care of?"_ They said, "_You've always been useless and you always will be."_

I did my best to ignore them, it was useless listening to them anyways, but they weren't going to go that easily. I could practically see the nameless faces shaking their blank heads as they continued to speak, "_You've convinced yourself that he's going to make sure the others won't make you leave, you know he's lying, don't lie to yourself."_

I wanted to scream at them, make them be quiet but of course I didn't. Staying here alone in my room wasn't doing anything for me so I decided I was going to leave.

Over the past few days I had gotten pretty good at finding my way around this underground labyrinth of a base. Roman had showed me just about all it had to offer and I was getting familiar.

I walked through the hallways with my head down and my hands in my pockets. I tended to draw a lot of attention to myself when I was walking through these halls. Most of the time you would think that being short would help you not get noticed, but it was the opposite for me. With my strange hair and eye colors and my shortness I was quite the sight.

I didn't know where I was going at first, I just let my legs take me wherever. Eventually I found myself standing in the entrance to the room Roman had been training me in for the past couple of days. It was a large room, an array of various weapons adorned one wall while the other three were covered in some sort of mats along with the floor. There were a few punching bags and such hanging but that was really it.

There were only a couple of other people in the room right then and those were all the regulars. They had all already gotten used to me.

On a normal day I would spar with Roman for a while but I didn't have a sparring partner today so I just stood by the door. I couldn't bring myself to go back to the silence of my room so I stuck around, just waiting for nothing.

I was starting to zone out when I saw someone new enter the room, it was a boy who looked older than me but younger than Roman. I was guessing he was around 15 or so. His hair was brown and he had brown eyes to match it. In a world as colorful as ours the plainness almost made him stand out more.

He looked around the room a bit before his gaze landed on me. "Hey pinky!" he called over to me, "Wanna spar?"

I considered it for a moment before deciding that I had nothing to lose by saying yes, so, I nodded. I stood up and the boy smiled, "Great," he said, "Let's go over here."

The boy lead me over to a mat in the corner and gave me a small grin, "Welp is hand to hand good with you?"

I nodded once again.

The boy gave a quick count down, "Three, two, one!"

Then we started, it was clear after only a few moments of sparring with the boy that I was extremely outmatched but I decided to give it a shot anyways.

The boys eyes almost seemed to twinkle as he threw blow after blow at me, I dodged most but occasionally one of his fists or feet would meet me.

While sparring with Roman on other days I had quickly learned that it was much easier for me to dodge then to actually land any blows. We had tried some weapons too but in the end I decided that some form of hand to hand was more for me.

I'd held out longer than I thought before the boy knocked me to the ground, marking him as the victor, but I didn't mind that he won. It was nice to do something.

The boy quickly helped me up and gave me another of him small grins, "See ya around pinky, maybe we can spar some other time," then he left.

I returned to my place by the door for a bit and watched other pairs spar or guys punch the punching bags but eventually I got bored and returned to my room.

I honestly had no idea how long I was gone, but when I returned Roman was back. He was sitting on a chair swinging his cane around when I first saw him. When he saw me he stopped swinging the cane and looked over to me, "Hey Neo," he called, "You might want to get ready, Alex is waiting for you."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Oh gosh I'm sorry. My life has been a bit hectic for a while and I wasn't able to update when I wanted to. Thank you so much to the two amazing people who left some super awesome reviews last chapter.**

**I also should mention, though It may have sounded like it I am NOT giving up on this story! Thank you all so much!**

**Please review/favorite/follow and tell me what you thought! Also constructive criticism is welcome! If you've got any I would love to hear it!**

**By peoples!**

**-Anna-Mae1242**


	7. Chapter 7 - Acceptance

**Chapter 7**

**Acceptance**

I'd hated waiting for the test but walking side by side with Roman to my almost certain failure was a lot worse.

The walk was short and soon enough I found myself standing in front of the large door that I knew would lead to Alex. It was funny thinking that just days ago I was standing in front of this door for the first time.

There was no point in waiting, so I opened the door and stepped in. It was kind of funny, Alex seemed to be standing in the exact place where he had been the first day, I had meet him. Walking in I had expected him to have set up some weird elaborate test or tell me to jump off a cliff or something but nothing like that happened.

Alex smiled at me and said only two words, probably some of the most impactful words anybody had ever said to me, "You're in."

My eyes widened and for a moment I just stared at him, completely dumbfounded, then I glanced over to Roman. Surprise flashed over his face for only a moment before his composed demeaner was back.

I nodded quickly before he continued, "You've already passed your test, that boy you sparred with earlier, I believe his name is Justin, was the test. I had him go find you, fight you, and give a report back. Seems you've got quite the raw talent and have pretty decent pain tolerance. Justin said you never even flinched."

The boy; Justin, had hit me a few times but I didn't even feel like any of the blows were actually meant to hurt me, none of them did.

Alex's supposedly happy mood changed quickly as he told me the next thing, he looked extremely serious now, "Now don't you for a moment think that this offers you a guaranteed spot, I can kick you out any moment, I know Roman would like to keep you in but as he is the _second _highest ranked person here, he needs my permission to keep anybody in or kick anybody out," the way he said second made it seem as if he was rubbing it in Romans face that he was number two.

Alex gave a quick, "Wait here," before leaving the room. He returned shortly holding a scroll. He handed me the scroll and I opened it up quickly. A blue transparent screen greeted me. After a moment the screen flashed revealing a picture of me with a number 212. I wasn't sure how they had gotten my picture; I didn't remember anybody taking pictures of me since I had gotten here.

After giving me a moment to look at the scroll Alex waved me and Roman out saying, "Roman explain it all to her. I don't feel like explaining this all to a kid. She only gets to stay for now because you like her, if she does anything to annoy me, she's out in a jiffy. You better behave yourself kid," he gave me a scowl before waving us out of the room.

Roman gestured for me to follow him and we left the room, him being clearly annoyed by Alex. Those two didn't seem to have the best chemistry.

Roman sat down on the couch and I joined him. "I've probably got to explain a lot to you right, now don't I?"

I nodded quickly.

"Hand me your scroll."

I quickly gave the device to him and he opened it up. After gesturing to the number 212 he spoke, "So this is your rank, currently there are 212 members and you are the very bottom. I'm number 2 as Alex mentioned, he's number 1. You can move up in ranking by 1 on 1 fighting another member of a higher rank. If the higher wins everything stays the same, if the lower wins they take the higher rank and the higher moves down 1. The higher ranked you are the more respect you will be given. If you're given any at all."

I nodded, it made sense and I had figured there was some sort of ranking system. I was sick of always being the bottom, so I promised myself, I was going to make it to the top.

* * *

In the next few weeks I fell into a routine, if Roman wasn't gone on some kind of secret mission, he would train with me in the morning, if he wasn't, I would normally spar with Justin. He was the closest thing I'd ever had to a friend my age.

Everyone here had their own fighting style and I was beginning to develop my own. I was small, still am, and I began to be able to use that as an advantage. Being fast also became one of my advantages.

The more I trained the better I got at dodging, at this point I was starting to be able to land hits as well. Nobody had landed a blow on me in a week.

When I was done training, I would eat out in the bar looking area with everyone else, most people still didn't like me but they'd began to learn I wasn't going anywhere anything soon. Then I'd go to bed in my room.

It was a simple routine and I was finally starting to find a sense of normality in my life, sure this was a strange lifestyle that most people wouldn't choose to live but it was mine and I liked it. It was the first time in my short life that I had known what to expect each day.

The only thing I didn't know was when Roman would return. Some days he would be back in the morning, absolutely exhausted and other days he'd come home late happy. I wasn't allowed to know what he was doing, I didn't care.

One day Roman had come back looking particularly, most of the time he came home in a good mood would mean that we would be able to get some extra training sessions in, but today that wasn't the case.

He threw the door open and grinned at me saying, "Hey kid, you've got a job! Get ready, you've got thirty minutes before we leave!"

* * *

**Authors note:**

**WHAT! ANNA UPDATED!? It's only been what 2 months!?**

**First off I've got to say sorry, my life's in totally disarray right now and Fanfiction kinda got put on the back burner for a while, but I'm back hopefully for good!**

**I'm sorry this update took so long and sorry its short, this is kinda just a transition chapter so we can get into the main story arc! WOOOP DE DO!**

**Please Review/follow/favorite you know whatever**

**As always I would love to hear what you thought and I would love any constructive criticism!**

**BYE Y'ALLS**

**-Anna-Mae1242**


	8. Chapter 8 -Sometimes Missions Kinda Suck

**Disclaimer: I own a delicious peice of chocolate cake a can of pringles and a really expensive cello but I will never own RWBY**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Sometimes Missions Kinda Suck**

I honestly didn't have much to prepare before we left, so that just left me time to sit there wondering what they would want me to do. Nobody here was ever to keen on sharing information here so I was just about always left in the dark. It also didn't help that I couldn't necessary ask them easily.

I was starting to get restless so Roman decided to take me out to the aircraft we would be using. I hadn't left the hideout in over a month and it took my eyes quite some time to adjust to the sun. At this point I was starting to forget how pretty the forest was.

The forest is deceiving in that way, beautiful but dangerous. If you stray too far, looking at the pretty flowers and trees, the grimm will get you. It's the cruel irony of this world, get distracted by the good and you'll forget the bad just long enough for it to catch up to you.

That never stopped me from enjoying the beauty of it all.

The aircraft was right outside, Josh was in the driver's seat. It didn't take long for other people to show up. Justin was there along with a girl I had seen around but knew nothing about and an older man I had never even seen before.

Josh looked around outside the airship and called over to us, "You guys better get in the back quick or I'm leaving you behind!"

I made my way to the back as fast as I could, I couldn't get left behind on my first mission, Alex would probably hate me even more. Everyone else though couldn't see to care less about how fast they got there, the girl even seemed to be walking deliberately slower than normal to annoy Josh, "We all know you won't leave," she rolled her eyes, "You're the second lowest ranked here, Alex would have a fit if you left anyone behind," she glanced at me, "Except for her maybe."

I decided to ignore that, it wasn't a surprise that she didn't seem to like me, few people here did. The other four took their seats soon enough and the ship took off.

Each side of the back of the ship had three seats, I took the middle in the back, Roman was to my left and Justin to my right. The other two sat across from us. The first bit of the ride was accompanied by an awkward silence. Until the older man decided to break the silence.

"You're probably wondering why your all here, so I should probably explain."

That was followed by a couple of "yeahs" and one "well duh."

The man spoke again, "My names Jay and I'm the leader of this mission, a rivaling gang around here has taking something from Alex and he'd like us to get it and return it, you've all been called here for a specific reason and your strengths will be put to use. We'll be discussing plans further once we land."

The rest of the flight was accompanied by only the soft buzz of the engine. I didn't mind the silence but I could tell it bothered Justin, the lack of noise made him fidget.

We landed in about thirty minutes or so in seemingly, the middle of nowhere. Jay left the ship first, followed by Justin and the girl, I hopped out and followed close behind them, Roman tailing me. Josh was already out, standing in front of a tree waiting for us. He glanced at Jay, "You've got to explain the plan, quick too Alex expects us back before the end of the day."

Jay walked to the front of our small group and said, "The leader of our rivaling gang took one of Alex's guns the last time there was a fight, he wants it back."

Beside me Roman scowled, "You've got to be kidding me, Alex sent 4 high ranking individuals Neo and Josh, to get a Gun," he shook his head, "Man I hate that guy, I could be doing so many things better with my time."

The girl, who I assumed was Maranda gave a short laugh, "Tell me about it."

"It was one of Alex's favorite guns," Jay rolled his eyes, "We'll get in get the gun and get out, Alex is the highest ranking here so I don't suppose we have much of a choice to do what he tells us, do we?"

"I suppose that's true," said Maranda, "What's the rest of the plan Jay, I want to get this over with."

"The leader of this gang has a room full of what he calls battle trophies and that's where Alex suspects the gun is being kept," Jay laid out a map of some house and pointed to various rooms as he talked, "Roman, Maranda and Justin, will provide a distraction, I will wait here for Neo with the gun, shes small and will be the one to retrieve it, when she gets here I'll send a message to the rest of you to come back. Everyone got it?"

There was a series of "yeahs" and "sures" I just nodded.

"Ok then, were moving out."

Maranda began to make her way back to the air craft but Jay stopped her, "Nope," he said turning her around, "We'll be walking."

Maranda groaned, "Uggg why?"

"Its best that we don't make our presence known until we want it known. I don't think riding in a huge air ship up to their front porch would be the best idea."

"Arrrg fine, let's go," Maranda rolled her eyes and followed Jay as he began walking, the rest of the group followed behind.

Josh stayed, presumably to watch the ship.

I'm not exactly sure how long we walked but eventually I saw the top of a house poking out of the trees. About ten minutes later we were standing in a small grove of trees just outside of the gates.

Jay stopped us all before we moved further and whispered, "You all understand what you need to do?"

The group gave nods and split up, heading to perform their various tasks, Roman stopped to give me a thumbs up before leaving to do his.

To my surprise Roman didn't give a subtle distraction as I had expected, instead he walked straight up to the front door and threw it wide open leaning on his cane and grinning madly as chaos erupted inside. It didn't take long for me to realize that Justin and Maranda had already somehow snuck their way inside, they were fighting someone by the sound of it.

I shook my head, I needed to stop thinking about them and get into gear. I had my own job to complete. With the three others inside the building it didn't take long for me to be able to sneak into a window unnoticed.

Once I was in it only took me a moment to figure out where I was, the widow I had jumped in led to a pantry room, the Trophy room was on the other side of the mansion like house. It was fortunate that the room I had jumped in was empty, I was just hoping my luck held out a little longer and I wouldn't run into anybody on my way to the room. Hopefully most everybody would be distracted by Roman and the others in the main room.

I inched the door open to find a seemingly empty. I glanced around the side before making my way out as quietly as possible. I walked for a bit and I hadn't yet ran into anybody, I assumed everyone had been distracted, that's what the distraction was for after all.

I glanced around the hall after walking for a bit, if I remembered Jay's directions correctly, I was about halfway there. Hopefully my luck would hold out until then.

My luck _did _hold out for the next ten minutes or so, nobody crossed my path. But I'd always had bad luck and that wasn't about to change now. That was the one thing I was sure about, because right when I turned the next corner, I was faced with a very large, and not so friendly looking guy.

He had pink hair, but somehow even managed to make that look freaky. I jumped when  
I first saw him. I looked him over, he was big enough to easily snap my neck, I was small. I quickly decided that fighting him would not be the best course of action.

Tying to be inconspicuous I put my head down and began slowly walking towards him, abruptly changing my direction and going to other way would draw attention to me as he had obviously already seen me. So just pretending to be up to nothing and praying he would ignore me would be my best bet.

I got about a foot or two in front of him before the man grabbed my shoulder I tensed up for a moment, waiting for him to do something, "Where are you going, this hallway is off limits to the servants."

A wave of relief passed through me, he thought I was a servant, that was good. He let go of me and I walked off in the other direction, quickly slipping into the nearest closet, the man didn't stop or question me, I was safe for now. I peeked through a crack in the door until the cost was clear then I quietly stepped out.

I made it the rest of the way without problem and soon enough I was inside the "trophy room." Every inch of every wall was adorned with some kind of token. The tokens were anything from a leaf to a tusk of some large grimm. I didn't like the room, it creeped me out. After a spotted a doll nailed onto one wall it made it all worse, I didn't want to know why that was considered a trophy.

Sure, the group I was a part of wasn't the nicest group of people but even so this repulsed me.

I decided I was going to find that gun and get out as quick as possible, I didn't want to have to stay here any longer then absolutely necessary. It didn't take too long to spot it, it was the only gun in the room and was right smack in the middle of one of the walls.

About two seconds after I removed the gun from the wall, I realized what a terrible mistake I had made.

Alarms began blaring all around the room, there was only one way in or out of this room and I needed to get out, now. I made a break for the door but standing in my path in all his pink haired glory was the man I had seen in the hall only minutes before. He glared at me, "I thought I didn't recognize you. Boss wouldn't let some filthy rat like you work for him, I bet you're one of Alex's brats, aren't you," he growled at me.

I ignored his comment, already look for a way around him, this was when being mall was convenient. Currently he was blocking the whole doorway, if I could get him to move just a bit in any direction, I could slip right by him.

I looked around the room once more, hopefully I would see something to help m. About a foot away from me I saw a pedestal with a vase on it Wishing for the best I reached my hand with the gun in it and knocked the pedestal over.

The delicately crafted vase plummeted to the floor shattering into thousands of pieces. This had the desired effect, the man jumped moving slightly to his left, giving me an opening on the right. I pulled Alex's gun close to my chest as I made a run for it, only just making it through the gap.

I sprinted through the no longer empty hallway barely avoiding several people who made grabs at me. I too occupied with my running to notice I had ran straight into a dead end.

Internally cursing myself for my stupidity I glanced around for a way out. I couldn't go back the way I came, there were people following me and I wouldn't be able to dodge them if I went back. There was a small window to my right, it would be a tight fit but I could make it.

I tried to open it but the window wouldn't budge, seeing no other way out I was going to have to make this work. I slammed the butt of the gun I was holding into the window until it shattered. There were jagged pieces of glass around the sides but this would have to do.

I gave a silent prayer to anyone who would listen then jumped. As I fell to the ground I felt a sharp pain in my leg then a jolt as I hit the ground. I didn't have any time to examine my leg, I just had to get up and keep running towards the meeting spot Jay had arranged for the group.

Just as I left the clearing a large bang sounded from the mansion followed by the distinct sound of Romans laugh. He yelled a quick, "Nice party," before leaving, followed by Maranda and Justin.

I didn't wait for them, I still was worried I'd be caught so I ignored the pain in my leg and the ache in my body for running so far and turned to continue running towards the meeting spot.

After a few more moments I made it to the spot, sure enough Jay was waiting there leaning on a tree.

I sat down and began to examine the cut on my leg. After peeling away the bloodied pant leg the cut was better shown. The actual cut wasn't super deep but it had bled a lot and my leg was throbbing because of the run.

Jay walked over to me and picked up the gun I brought and examined it, "Hmmm," he glanced at me, "You actually got it, that's rather surprising, well good work kid."

Jay pulled out his scroll and quickly sent a message, presumably to Justin, Maranda and Roman then put his scroll back before looking at me again, he nodded to my leg, "That cut bad?"

I shook my head.

"Good, we'll get it bandaged up when we get back to this ship."

I nodded and we waiting in silence for the others to come. Once they arrived, we all walked as a group back to the ship. Josh was waiting inside he seemed fairly surprised that I had got the gun. It seemed odd how shocked everyone was that I had actually gotten it when I was assigned the job in the first place.

Roman helped me bandage up my leg, the whole thing seemed to have put Roman in a good mood and the ride back was much less awkward.

When we arrived and gave the gun back to Alex he seemed shocked and asked if I'd gotten it, when I nodded he was even more surprised. Yeah, something was defiantly odd about this whole thing. I just needed to figure out what.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**YAY! I updated with a decent length chapter in a decent amount of time WOOP DE DO! I'm proud of myself!**

**Thanks for reading you guys are the best!**

**Follow/favorite/review it means a lot! I really appreceate thoes who do! I was looking at my veiws, I've reached about a thousand WOOOOOOOO! Well anyways I've never seen an author do this before so I'm gunna, I'm going to put the reader to reviwer ratio into perspective, its about 1 to 100 so thank you to thoes who do, it means a ton!**

**SEEE YA'LLS NEXT TIME**


	9. Chapter 9 - Moving Up

**Chapter 9**

**Moving Up**

It didn't take me long to figure out what was up with Alex, he'd planned for that trip to kill me. It didn't surprise me and honestly, I didn't care. When I joined this group, I hadn't expected them to become like a family or anything. This was exactly what I had expected to happen.

I just ignored the whole Alex-wants-me-dead situation and continued to train with Roman. He was like an impenetrable shield always standing in front of me, if he was around Alex couldn't directly hurt me. Alex knew that even though he was above Roman it would still be a bad idea to cross him. Roman was strong.

I hadn't been sent on another mission yet so the first few weeks after my first one were spent non-stop training with Roman or on the days he was gone I would spar with Justin. I wasn't sure what I had with him but it seemed like some sort of a friendship.

I was getting stronger and the people around me were becoming aware of that. Less and less of the other gang members looked at me as a helpless child who was lucky enough to be taken under Romans wing. I was becoming one of them.

Some of the gang members still, let's just say, uhh weren't to fond of me. It was a Wednesday afternoon, the only reason I ever knew what day it is was because Roman was always gone Wednesday, some long-term mission.

I was sitting in the training room waiting for Justin, we had some form of an unspoken agreement, every Wednesday at about 3:30 we would meet in the training room and spar. It was currently 3:20 so I had about 10 minutes to spare.

I scanned the room for something to watch and spotted Maranda and guy sparing in one end of the room. I didn't know the guy she was sparring with; I'd probably seen him before, just never played much attention to him. Probably because he was just another gang member right out of the mold, tall, muscular and covered in tattoos, kind of boring if you ask me.

Anyways I watched them spar for a while, Maranda won the first time and he won the next two. Maranda glared at him after the third then glanced to a person who girl who was watched, she pointed to the guy and said something I didn't quite here. The guy and Maranda pulled out their scrolls, swapped them and wrote something onto the others. Just a moment after they switched back, I felt my own scroll ding.

I pulled the device out and glanced at the screen, at the very top was a little notification reading, "Ranks have changed, Jasper Smith now ranks 83rd, Maranda Lewis now ranks 86th. All below 86th have been moved down."

The guy, Jasper, must have challenged Maranda, I remembered Roman mentioning that you could do that.

Just a moment or so later. Justin walked in. I stood up to meet him, and just as always we walked over to the nearest mat, and I punched him. That sounds rather weird when you put it like that… We sparred for a while, Justin throwing most of the punches me simply dodging them. I used to hear people say that fighting was just like dancing and now I get it. Two people, moving in unison with each other, and it was just as enjoyable, if not more.

By now I'd noticed a small group of people had accumulated around us, this wasn't all that uncommon anymore, the two of us tended to attract attention. It used to distract me but it didn't phase me anymore. I simply ignored them. We stopped after about five or so rounds, I'd won four of them Justin patted me on the shoulder, "Nice work Pinky! Your defiantly getting better," he smirked at me, "Pretty soon I might have to stop going easy on you!"

While in most situations someone saying something like that would have been a joke or something, but I knew he was telling the truth. Justin was extremely high ranking, I hadn't checked so I didn't know how high, but I was betting top twenty-five, I however was still the two hundred twelfth. I had no chance if he went all out.

We decided to take a short break at this point I was getting rather tired. I decided to grab a drink, Justin just pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket and began eating it. Twenty or so minutes later we returned to the sparing matts.

It was during our second round that I heard someone laughing, causing me to falter, Justin landed a punch to my stomach. I stumbled, glancing to where the voice had come from. I recognized the guy who had been fighting with earlier today.

At this point Justin had stopped fighting and was also looking at the guy, he noticed us looking at him and let out another laugh. "Pathetic," he said shaking his head, "Just pathetic, sometimes I wonder why Alex even lets little kids like you join. It's like watching a couple of puppies brawling. As I said, pathetic."

I glared at him in return, beside me, Justin was also silent. The guy who I now realized was Japser, glared right back at me. After a few moments of our silent stare contest an idea struck me. I reached for the pad or paper I had decided to always keep in my pocket as well as my pen.

Quickly I scrawled three words,_ I challenge you,_ and smiled as I handed him the now folded piece of paper. I didn't know how he was going but no matter what, this was going to be fun. He read the paper, looked up to me, then read it again.

Jasper bust into laughter, "You've got to be kidding me, _you _are challenging _me! _You've got to be kidding me! This is the best thing I've heard all day!"

I stared back at him completely straight faced, totally serious until he talked again.

"Ok," he said, still laughing, "I'll fight you; I think a little brat like you needs to be put into your place."

About two minutes later we were facing each other on opposite sides of one of the mats I the practice room. Justin sat watching, he began to count down, "Five," I took my stance.

"Four," I took in Jaspers stance.

"Three," I decided my first move.

"Two," I glanced at Justin.

"One," I smiled.

Jasper made the first move, he lunged right at, intending to give me a nice punch to the face but I easily dodged the attack, hitting the ground and sliding behind him. I smoothly landed a kick to his side, keeping my stance behind him.

Jasper made a few more blows, three of which I was able to dodge, he was able to land one blow on my right leg, the same one that I had previously injured, oh joy.

At this point of the fight there was a large group gathered watching us, much larger than the one that had been watching Justin and I fight previously. This made me want to win even more, oh the look on his cocky face when he lost would be priceless.

I let the fight go on for a few more minutes, but soon enough I was getting bored, time to pull my trump card. I let myself linger in front of him for supposedly just a moment too long. The moment however that Jasper "hit me" the shadow of me shattered and behind him I delivered a hard blow to his head, knocking him down. I then turned to the crowed watching and gave a small bow.

The audience stood there, flabbergasted as Jasper struggled to stand again. The moment that he stood up, I held out his hand for his scroll and he reluctantly handed me it, I passed mine to him and we entered the required information for a rank change.

A second later, everyone's scrolls dinged. Most opened them and looked at the screen displaying the a notification saying, "Ranks have changed, Neo now ranks 87rd, Jasper Smith now ranks 86th. All below 86th have been moved down."

I smiled at everybody's expressions and made my way back to my room, today had been a good day.

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**Authors Note:**

**So yeah... I'm back! Sorry hehe. Life's been crazy with school and all, but I promise I have not and will not give up on this story! Sorry for the short chapter!**

**I would love to see reviews from ya'll! :D**

**Your horrible at updating author friend,**

**Anna-Mae1242**


	10. Chapter 10 - Loosing

**IMPORTANT**

**I would like to dedicate this chapter to my wonderful reviewers!**

**Firecat21870, ****SR1120, Bmurd3rf4c3 and Beard Boy for reviewing once**

**Luine Mercury LWG, Chaosconetic (hope I got that right) and Tsyi sin for all reviewing twice**

**And last but not least the amazing guests who have left some of the best reviews I have on this story, if you are a guest that reviews more than once, leave a constant name at the bottom of your review so I know who it is, that would be amazing.**

**Thank you all so much, I want you to know that your reviews mean the world to me and I know each and every one of them by heart because I've read them so many times! Thank you all again.**

**Now on to the chapter!**

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**Chapter 10**

**Loosing**

After that, things were different. Many people stopped ignoring me and those who used to look down on me started to look up as I ranked above the majority of them. The new attention I was getting was strange, but I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy it. For the first time in a very long time I liked where I was in life.

When Roman got back the day I'd won the fight, he grinned at me and said, "I knew you'd be up to it." Then we went and practiced for the rest of the day, Roman didn't land a hit on me, no one really did anymore.

Training soon changed from simple sparing to semblance training. I'd had my semblance for years now but had never quite perfected how it works. We started small, I worked on changing my hair and eye color and worked leaving my images behind, perfecting the method I'd used to beat Jasper.

I was in the practice room one day, sparing with Justin, Roman was out on another trip, when I noticed a small crowd accumulated around me, watching. If they saw me practice my semblance they would know my tricks and it would be harder to beat them.

It was with that though that I realized it, I liked the people who now looked up at me, 87th, well that just wasn't high enough. I wanted more, I _needed _more. So, I got what I wanted. I was going to rise to the top. By the end of the week. I was 70th in two more, I was 60th but it was never good enough. Nothing is ever good enough.

By the time I reached 64th things began to get harder, the duels were no longer easy, I actually had to put effort into them and that made it far less enjoyable. So, I trained, I was rarely given missions and the few times I did, they were small. I spend my time training every free second of everyday was spent making sure I was the best. I would be the best.

When you are the best, people can't look down on you and I never wanted another person to look down on me ever again. I was going to be the best.

"Hey Pinky, wanna fight?"

I looked away from the weapons rack I was examining and over to Justin, I gave him a short nod and stepped away. We walked towards one of the sparring mats in the back of the room, the one we usually dueled on and started.

Justin counted down and I waited for the fight to start.

The second he one, Justin lunged at me, far faster than I'd previously though he could go. Surprised by the attack, I stumbled quickly regaining my balance and dodging his next blow.

Justin continued to come at me with a furious speed that never failed to surprise me. I'd always know Justin was never going all out while sparring me, but this was a whole new level of surprising, he completely switched fighting styles.

While fighting Justin before, he tended to have a more outright fighting style, one that was more brawn then brain. But the style he had now assumed was just the opposite. He dodged every attack of mine, he slid around with more agility than I'd though possible and continued to land hits on me.

Though the fights had recently gotten harder, this was the first time in months that someone had landed a hit on me.

When Justin landed the first hit on me, I was shocked, unable to comprehend what had just happened, but I adjusted. If I wanted to beat my opponent this time, it was going to be a lot harder than the other recent fights.

I generally avoided using my semblance while fighting, I used it when I felt necessary, but I liked to give my opponents a fighting chance. Today was different.

After taking a few more blows I jumped to the side, leaving a shadow of myself there for Justin's fist to collide into. The second his fist met "me" the illusion shattered into what seemed like hundreds of shards of glass. He'd seen this once before in my fight with Jasper, but it seemed to catch him off guard anyways. I smiled, maybe I had a chance

Justin instantly pivoted on his heel and looked behind him, preventing me from pulling the same trick on him that I had on Jasper to win that fight.

I ducked, his hand just missing my head. I left another image of myself a by his side, yet another distraction. Justin looked passed it this time, "Don't expect me to fall for the same trick twice," he said grinning.

I rolled me eyes; he had no idea how many people would have.

The fight continued like that for some time, me throwing out images of myself to distract him as much as possible and Justin continued to dodge everything, throwing rapid punches at me. I dodged most of them, occasionally being hit.

After about the seventh time that Justin hit me, I had an idea. It was something small, but it just might work. Next time Justin threw a punch, I ducked low and as he was looking down, I turned his shoes red.

It was small, but the sudden change from brown to red caught him off guard, and while Justin was looking at his shoes, I punched him right in the face. He stumbled back and I landed another hit, this time on his arm.

Just as I thought I had gotten the upper hand, Justin swept my legs right out from under me. I hit the ground, hard.

The wind was instantly knocked out of me and I sat there for a moment desperately trying to regain my breath. When I could breathe again, I sat up, Justin was sitting on the floor beside me, the fight was obviously over. He stood up and offered me a hand, which I took, he pulled me up.

To my surprise, Justin grinned at me, and said, "That was fun, just wanted to know what my competition would be if you ever decided you wanted to be higher than me. I think I've got my spot secured. You better watch out Pinky, once you start dueling the higher ups, well, things aren't going to be as pretty as they have been for you."

With that, Justin walked away humming something to himself and smiling, me staring blankly after him.

The rest of that day there was only one thing on my mind, it wasn't Justin's warning it was the one thing I found most important.

Today, I had lost.

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**Authors Note:**

**Well ummm hi? It's been a really long time huh... sorry? There honestly isn't a lot I can say, life comes before fanfiction and as I may have mentioned in previous authors notes for the past year or so my life has been out of whack.**

**I'm back though and I'm here to stay! I will NEVER give up on this story, this time It may have looked like I had huh.**

**Thank you all so much for reading this story, it means more to this little girl than you could have possibly known. I'm an aspiring author and have 10ish original stories I would like to get out there, this is really just practice, but I love it. My characters are my children and Neo and Roman just get to be my adopted children for a while.**

**Love you all so much! Thank you!**

**Remember to Review/Favorite/follow!**

**Your very apologetic author,**

**Anna-Mae1242**


	11. Chapter 11 - A Challenge

**Authors note: I would like to dedicate this chapter to Chaosconetic (hope I spelled that right) for giving me some wonderful ideas from your review for this chapter! Thank you for sticking with me and this story!**

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**Chapter 11**

Justin was right, things only got harder from there. My competition was putting up a fight and after Justin had defeated me it was made abundantly clear that I needed to get stronger, I was a lot stronger and faster than I used to be but I still wasn't strong enough. At this point I wasn't sure If I ever would be.

Missions were a good way to train but Alex didn't send me on them often, I never knew why. So, I trained in other ways. I sparred with Justin, but less than I used to it felt odd knowing that he was holding back so that I could win.

Roman was around more, he watched me fight and on occasion would spar with me, I put up much more of a fight than I had back when I'd first come.

One night sitting on my bed I decided to figure who I would need to fight next. I pulled out my scroll which I had rarely used for anything other than before a match and clicked on the list of members. There was a small profile for each member simply stating their name, age, rank, and semblance. I searched my name and began to look at my own profile. There was a picture of me, I didn't know when somebody had taken it,

Name: Neo

Age: ?

Rank: 53

Semblance: ?

I found it odd that there was no semblance listed for me, I'd used my semblance several times now in from of a large group of people, it didn't however surprise me that there was no age, I didn't even remember my own age, I remembered vaguely when my birthday had been but I hadn't celebrated it in so long, not since mom died and I didn't even know how many years had passed since then, maybe five?

I shook my head; I didn't like thinking about it. I swiped to the next file. The person I would be dueling next. There was a picture of a grim looking girl with short purple hair and several scars.

Name: Aspen

Age: 23

Rank: 52

Semblance: Ice

I began to look at other members, some were people I recognized but I didn't know their ranks I only bothered to know the persons rank who was directly above me. I stopped when I reached a particularly familiar face.

Name: Justin

Age: 15

Rank: 3

I stopped, I didn't read his semblance, I was too shocked. I'd know that Justin was higher ranked than me, but I didn't know just how much higher he was. Anger began to rise within me, he'd been going easy on me for far too long. Justin was the closest thing I think I'd ever had to a friend. Roman was different than a friend. But I was angry at Justin, someday and I didn't know when, I was going to beat him, he would have to stop going easy on me if he wanted to keep his position.

One day I was in what I called the common area eating a meal, food wasn't free here but Roman paid for anything I wanted, It wasn't good by any means, but it was food and I would eat it, there really wasn't anything else to eat.

I was sitting at a table, alone, Roman was gone today eating when I was interrupted by a man, he sat down next to me, "Hey kid," that made me angry, Roman could call me kid, this man, could not.

I turned to him.

"Your number fifty-three, correct?"

I nodded, hardly paying any attention to him, "Who know," he said, "A little kid."

I glared at him.

"Ah a feisty one."

I continued to glare.

"Well kid, he said, "I just beat fifty-two which means, your next," he stood a little straighter, "I, number fifty-two challenge you, fifty-three to a duel. See you at five."

I stared after him as he walked away, he didn't even wait for me to except the duel. He'd just assumed I had, I didn't have to show, but nobody here turned down a duel. If you turned down a duel you were weak. I wasn't weak.

So at five o' clock on the dot that night I walked into the practice room, a crowd had already accumulated around the man I recognized from earlier, I walked over to him and shoved my scroll into his hand, he laughed and handed me his. After entering information, we stood ready waiting for somebody to call start.

I looked him up and down in the few seconds before we started and thought. He was big, a lot bigger than me at least and he had to be strong, the previous fifty-three had been heard to beat this man would have had to beat her to get to me.

Before a duel it's always decided if we will use sparring weapons or no weapons, this man had chosen no weapons, he must be accustomed to a more hand to hand style, he must have assumed because of my small size I would have relied on a weapon, and that's where he'd made his mistake. Hand to hand was my domain as well.

"Start!" Someone who's voice I didn't recognize called.

The man threw a punch the second the word was said. He was fast, I was faster. I dodged effortlessly. The fight went on like this a few minutes. I wasn't losing but I sure wasn't winning, though a single hit hadn't been landed on me, I hadn't landed a single hit on him.

I needed to rethink my strategy, I was fast and normally that's what I would rely on, I would dodge and then in the moment it took for that person to regain themselves I would strike. This man was too fast, he regained himself almost instantly after a failed strike.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't even see his next blow coming, he landed a solid punch to my stomach. I stumbled back then fell. He smiled, "Seems you're not everything you've been cut out to be."

He punched me again. I rolled away. I smiled when an idea struck me. He punched me again and I let him. Just as he was preparing to land another blow I rolled away, leaving a solid image of myself for his fist to collide with.

When the decoy me exploded on impact the man jumped away, while most of my opponents would have seen this trick coming as I'd use similar one's multiple times to defeat previous opponents, I knew this one wouldn't. Before the fight I'd been looking at his profile, Roman had just returned and noticed it he mentioned that this man was a new member. He was rising in the ranks fast, faster than I had in fact, but he had never seen me fight before. I counted on this to my advantage.

He stared at where my image had been, he didn't even notice the real me stand from over to the side. I landed a soil punch on his nose. Moments later the fight was over, I'd won.

The victory of this fight felt different than the others, I had maintained my rank but I wasent getting any higher, it annoyed me.

My opponent left the room mumbling to himself, on his way out the door he punched someone, I didn't know who this person was but soon enough there was a four-way brawl going on outside the door. I rolled my eyes at it, brawls like that weren't uncommon, this was a gang after all, but I'd always found them childish and never once joined in.

I began to walk out of the room but was stopped by a familiar voice, "Nice work kid," Roman said from behind me, "You've thoroughly impressed me."

I didn't show it but the feeling that praise gave me was probably the best feeling I'd ever had, I didn't even know he'd been watching. He ruffled my hair, I scowled.

"Keep it up and pretty soon you might be better than me."

He laughed as he walked away, and nobody saw it but I smiled.

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**Authors Note: Life's been crazy for just about everybody this past while, but this social distancing thing hasn't been all that bad for writers, gives us a lot of time away from people to write. Thank you all so much for reading drop a review/favorite/follow! See you all next chapter!**

**And please stay safe and healthy!**


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